Most Americans continue to believe Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction when the war began, a new poll yesterday showed.

The Harris Poll found that 51 percent believe Iraq had WMD, compared with 38 who don’t believe the White House claim, a leading rationale for the U.S. invasion. The numbers have barely changed since February, when the last poll was conducted, despite the fact that weapons of mass destruction have yet to be uncovered.

The poll also showed that 74 percent of Americans still believe that no clear evidence of WMD has been unearthed, while 19 percent believe proof exists. Forty-three percent believe the U.S. government exaggerated the reports of WMD in Iraq to increase support for the war, while 50 percent believes the government tried to be accurate.

The poll also found by 49 percent to 36 percent Americans continue to believe that evidence showing Iraq’s support for al Qaeda has been found. The poll also showed Americans concerned about a Vietnam-like “quagmire” in Iraq.

The Harris survey found that 45 percent of Americans – up from 37 percent in February – think the United States is “very likely” to get bogged down “for a long time” in Iraq.

The poll found that this had no significant impact on the number of people who favored keeping a large number of U.S. troops in Iraq (42 percent) or those who favor “bringing most of our troops home in the next year” (51 percent).